Kathleen A. Hansen and Nora Paul

15.11 Face-to-Face

Trained interviewers meet individually with the survey respondents and ask them the survey questions in person

Advantages:

longer and more complex questions can be accommodated

questions that require the respondent to react to visual images can be asked

Disadvantages:

labor costs for interviewer training is high

transportation costs for interviewers’ travel to and from the respondents’ locations are very high

respondents are less and less likely to allow strangers into their homes so the completion rate is low

Evaluating face-to-face survey data: The following questions are important guides to determining the quality of the firm doing the survey and to the reliability of the information gathered by the survey:

How were the interviewers selected?

Were the interviewers chosen to avoid the bias of race, age, sex or other social factors that might limit respondents’ comfort level in participating?

How was the work of each interviewer checked?

What instructions did the interviewers receive regarding the selection of respondents?